I am reading Rahi Masoom Raza's novel 'Scene 75'. Earlier I have read a few of his other novels including his masterpiece Adha Gaon, Topi Shukla, Katra Bi Arzoo, Os ki Boond, and Neem Ka Ped as well.

Scene 75 is a short novel. The main characters of the novel are Ali Amjad, Harish Rai, VD (Virendra) and Alimullah Khan, who have come to Mumbai in search of livelihood, and live in a small rented room.

The novel is set in the decade of sixties, the nascent new born India, where the wounds of partition are still fresh. Through characters like Sarla, Ms DeCruz, Manchandani and Lata Sinha, the novelist delves into the anxities of the generation and sensitively deals with issues of human existence, survival in film industry and of course, communalism.

Raza writes, 'I am a son to three mothers--Nafisa Begum, Aligarh University and Ganga. Nafisa Begum is no more and even her features I can't recollect but the other two are alive and I can recall them clearly. This novel is dedicated to these three mothers of mine'.

I feel it's an engaging novel though not in the same league as Topi Shukla or Adha Gaon, still, a good one to read. After this, I plan to get and read Himmat Jaunpuri, another major novel by the same author who is remembered for his Bollywood scripts as much as his contribution to the scripting of DD's epic Mahabhrat serial.

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